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Turkey asks Russia to co-manage oil fields to rebuild Syria 

March 11, 2020 at 1:08 pm

A view of an oil field in Syria, 19 July 2018 [Adnan Alhusen/Anadolu Agency]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that he had asked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to jointly manage oil fields in Syria’s Deir Ez-Zor.

“Deir Ez-Zor is another territory with oil reserves. In that province, terrorists exploit the oil resources. America has its own plans here,” Erdogan said in reference to Kurdish-led forces who control the region’s rich oilfields.

“I made the offer to Mr. Putin, that; if he gives financial support, we can do the construction and through the oil obtained there, we can help destroyed Syria to get on its feet,” he told reporters aboard his plane on the way back from Brussels.

Erdogan explained that he may even propose a similar offer to the US President Donald Trump.

READ: The Russia-Turkey Idlib deal is as bad as Trump’s ‘deal of the century’

Moreover, Erdogan called on Greece to open its doors to asylum seekers, explaining that the refugees do not intend to settle there, but want to cross over to Europe.

The Turkish president stressed that the European leaders recognise that Turkey has fulfilled its duties towards the refugees, explaining that the issue of the Syrian governorate of Idlib, and the refugees is a test of the will and leadership of the European Union more than Turkey.

“We can start a new stage with the European Union, and we have made great strides in this regard,” he said, noting that he will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in Istanbul.